Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., believes now is the time for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to leave the national stage.
Heitkamp told a local North Dakota radio show Clinton can’t ride off into the sunset “soon enough” after the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee made comments critical of states that voted for President Trump that she says are moving “backwards.”
“I don’t know, not soon enough, I guess,” she told Joel Heitkamp, her brother and a local radio host in the state, on Tuesday.
“What’s the answer?” Joel Heitkamp followed up.
“Not soon enough,” the Democratic incumbent said.
The radio host went on to criticize Clinton for “bashing” North Dakota with the remarks, adding “I don’t need her to do that.” The North Dakota Democrat concurred.
“Yeah, I know,” she said.
Clinton came under fire after making the remarks during an appearance in India last weekend, during which she talked about how the areas that supported her were “moving forward” and economically stronger compared to those that Trump won.
“I won the places that represent two-thirds of America’s gross domestic product,” Clinton said. “So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward. And his whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards.”
“You know, ‘You didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs, you don’t want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are. Whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it,'” Clinton said.
In total, 10 Democrats up for re-election this fall in states where Trump won in 2016. Heitkamp, is set for a likely matchup against Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., in November.
